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INVESTIGATOR: Pilla, S.

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
CLEMSON UNIVERSITY
CLEMSON, SOUTH CAROLINA 29634

TRANSFORMING NANOCELLULOSE INTO AN ADVANCED BIORENEWABLE REINFORCEMENT WITH HYPERBRANCHED POLYMERS

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Forest restoration is key to healthy, sustainable forests that are resilient to major external factors (e.g., climate change). The Forest Service approach to accelerating forest restoration is based, in part, on creating high-value markets for low-value wood. One high-value material that has generated considerable recent interest and that can be extracted from wood removed during restoration is nanocellulose. Nanocellulose is widely available and has outstanding properties such as high stiffness and strength and low density, which makes it an excellent candidate as a bio-renewable reinforcement in the rapidly growing advanced polymer composites market. One logical market for nanocellulose penetration is automotive where the convergence of recent trends in lightweighting, nanotechnology, and the increasing use of natural fibers are favorable for nanocellulose adoption.In this project, we investigate innovative design architectures using nanocellulose and hyperbranched polymers, synthetically derived tree-like macromolecules, which when impregnated in polymers will yield high strength nanocomposites. Additionally, we propose a unique supercritical fluid assisted injection-molding technology to enhance dispersion of nanocellulose within the polymeric matrix, a key factor for augmenting performance. Overall, the goal is to transform the most desirable yet undervalued natural nanomaterial 'nanocellulose' into a high value advanced biorenewable reinforcement which, if successful, will open up entirely new avenues for nanocellulose use within the automotive industry and beyond.

OBJECTIVES: The proposed project provides a two-fold understanding of the nanocellulosic material. First, it provides a fundamental understanding of the performance characteristics of nanocellulose through innovative design architectures and covalent conjugate chemistries. Second, it investigates the applicability of engineered nanocellulose based roding nanostructures in high- value and superior-performance engineering applications such as those found in the automotive sector via a unique ScF-assisted manufacturing technology. The overall goal of the project is to use hyperbranched polymers to transform nanocellulose into an advanced biorenewable reinforcement. In support of this goal, the following objectives have been identified:1) Use novel conjugate chemistries to synthetically derive innovative design architectures that covalently couple nanocellulose, hyperbranched polymers (HBP), and polymer matrices that are relevant to the automotive industry (i.e. PP and PHBV).2) Employ a unique supercritical fluid (ScF) assisted processing technology to fabricate the roding nanostructure based nanocomposites.